Tony Hawk's Pro Skater

A classic, and the game that got every kid into skateboarding back in '99. This N64 port is without a doubt weaker than the PlayStation and Dreamcast versions: the C-buttons don't feel great used so regularly; the blood has been removed; and the music and sound is cut down and compressed. Still, it's hard to say that the game at its core is affected too much. It plays just as well and runs unexpectedly smoothly. A fine version to own if you've played the game on other platforms before--great, even--but I'd recommend either of the superior versions to newcomers.

Played this on the Dreamcast and I swear THPS1 changed the course of history. On its own it's a really fun game, with air-tight mechanics that finally brought the momentum and flexibility of skateboarding to video games, after many failed attempts. But also THPS1 more than any other video game liberated many young minds and taught them to skate and be defiant to authority. The fun of the game embraces the outlaw nature of skateboarding, involving everything from tresspassing to prohibited spots like malls to actually busting cop cars, all to a tastefully picked soundtrack(the theme song is "Police Truck" by Dead Kennedys for god sakes). This can all feel like very milquetoast messaging coming from a multi-million publisher who today is notorious for their exploitative business practices and tax dodging, but this message lives on. It isn't so much a video game as is a poignant view into an entire philosophy. It's the real shit.

It would be outdone by future and better games for its inclusion of tricks but THPS1 has all the basics you could possibly need. If you grew up on PC versions of the THPS games as I did, then you'll feel right at home with the Dreamcast port which avoids both the short draw-distance of the PSX version, and the low fidelity of the N64.

lol dated. But it did set in motion the pinnacle of the extreme sports genre, so who are we to really complain? And its level design is still pretty decent, it's just missing a lot of the key components of the THPS engine.

Unfortunately, I don't have the privilege of owning the rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia to view this game through. All I see is a decent game that hadn't realized its full potential yet and is inferior in practically every way to its sequel:
* the stage design (the best stage - San Francisco - is still not as good as THPS2 at its weakest)
* questionable design decisions (extra point markers, slalom stages - fuck the dam stage btw)
* difficulty (moves can't be customized, timing is more punishing)
* the soundtrack ("Superman" is not that good)